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As per the latest amendment in the AffordableHousingPolicy2013, 15 acres of land in every sector will have to be earmarked for affordable housing projects across the state.

In a significant development for the real estate sector, the Haryana cabinet has removed the cap on land for affordable housing. As per the latest amendment in the Affordable Housing Policy 2013, 15 acres of land in every sector will have to be earmarked for affordable housing projects across the state. Thus, the earlier cap in Gurgaon — 10 acres per sector, 300 acres in total — doesn’t hold any more.

The amendment was passed by the cabinet on September 27, though notification in this regard is yet to be issued. Senior DTCP officials confirmed the development and said the notification is likely to be issued sometime this week.

“We’ve removed the 300 acre-cap in Gurgaon and made it 15 acres per sector across the state,” said a senior DTCP official. Developers in Gurgaon have long been asking for increase in land for affordable housing, on account of a huge ‘demand and supply mismatch’.

The official further said as of now, another 5 acres can be allotted in 70 sectors of Gurgaon. It’s likely that in the next two years, developers will apply for 100-120 acres, and that the total land available for such projects could eventually “easily cross 500 acres” in Gurgaon. “If we get more applications than available land, we will decide with the help of lottery system,” said the official. Developers have hailed the state government’s decision and said the move is more than what they had expected, and that it would help in realising Prime Minister’s dream of ‘housing for all by 2020’.

“The state government’s announcement has come as a big relief to the industry, which had long been demanding a raise in land allotted for this segment, especially in Gurgaon. There is huge demand for affordable housing in this region due to employment opportunities,” said Pradeep Agarwal, chairman, Signature Global, which has several affordable housing projects in the city.

Currently, around 35,000 units are underconstructioninGurgaon. Another 24,000 could come up if licences are cleared in a time-bound manner. However, developers added the government should now focus on timely allotment of licences.

“Licences already applied for over the past couple of years are yet to be cleared. While removal of cap on land for affordable housing is a big relief, we would urge the government to also expedite the licence approval process,” said a city-based developer.

In the same amendment, the state government has also introduced a single-window clearance system for the industry to improve ease of doing business, which, when initiated, will involve a yet-to-be-set-up nodal agency to tackle all issues faced by the real estate industry.